Up-to-date information on improving your health now. Dr. Maltz carries a Medical Degree and Master in Public Health from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. She is currently completing a Combined Internal and Preventive Medicine Residency with specific interests in helping her patients and the masses improve their health through lifestyle interventions (ie, nutrition, exercise, decreasing environmental exposures, etc). Salud!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Recurrent Headaches in Teens Linked to Unhealthy Lifestyle

From the American College of Preventive Medicine website...

Adolescents who smoke, are overweight, or are inactive face increased risk for recurrent headaches, according to a cross-sectional study in Neurology. Nearly 6000 teenagers in Norway completed headache interviews and lifestyle questionnaires and underwent clinical examinations. After adjustment for confounders, smoking conferred a 50% increased risk for recurrent headache (migraine, tension-type, or nonclassifiable); overweight, a 40% increased risk; and physical inactivity, a 20% increased risk. The more unhealthy lifestyle factors a teen had, the greater the risk. Editorialists note that given its design, the study could not determine whether smoking, overweight, and inactivity are headache risk factors, exacerbating factors, or trigger factors. Still, they conclude that the report "sets the stage for lifestyle interventions" for headache disorders in adolescents.

About Me

Dr. Maltz carries a Medical Degree and Master in Public Health from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. She is currently completing a Combined Internal and Preventive Medicine Residency with specific interests in helping her patients and the masses improve their health through lifestyle interventions (including nutrition, exercise, decreasing environmental exposures, etc). Currently, Dr. Maltz is participating in health policy, cancer prevention and environmental health rotations as part of her fourth year of residency. Dr. Maltz looks forward to guiding people through the overwhelming amount of health information available on the web. Salud!!